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A quick note: I know, I've been evil, but there's still some evil to come. I promise you'll love it in the end!
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Special thanks to Red's-Fury and PhillyE2Heart.
Chapter 8: Remember how much I love you
She had a tally set up on the wall of her room. Okay, so it wasn't really a tally. It was more like a wall calendar pulled apart and stuck to her wall. Each day that Danny wasn't by her side was crossed out in a large red permanent marker. The day she found out was circled in blue. Each day after that was crossed out in blue. She sighed, crossing off another day when she woke that morning, three months to the day since she found out. She set a hand on her stomach as the baby growing inside her kicked against her belly. She smiled sadly, tears slipping down her cheeks. Danny had given himself up for this, and he didn't even know.
"Samantha, darling?" Her mother knocked on her door before opening it just a tad. "Can't we at least talk about this?"
Sam growled. "No, we can't talk about this! I'm not going to marry anyone else just because I'm having a 'bastard child,'" she stated, using air quotes. "I'm not marrying anyone except Danny!" She turned away from her mother, gazing out the window as she began to sob, shoulders shaking. "Oh, Danny," she whispered, "I wish you knew…"
Mrs. Manson gazed sadly at her daughter's shaking form before gently closing the door. She really loved that boy.
Daniel woke with a start, body trembling. He'd dreamt of her again, the girl from the virtual training program. She was missing someone named Danny, and she was pregnant with Danny's baby. Danny... Why does that name sound so familiar? He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He wish he understood what was going on. He wished he knew what these dreams meant. They were obviously important, or he wouldn't keep having them. Another memory struck him, a memory of a night of passion that made his blood boil.
"Sam," he whispered, eyes glazing over. He blinked, and for a moment his eyes flashed green before returning to red then back to their normal blue. He shook his head. "What the fuck?" he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Cold shower," he decided with a stiff nod before getting up and making his way to the bathroom.
"It gets harder with each passing day," Sam whispered, gazing sorrowfully at a picture of her and Danny.
Jazz rubbed her back, smiling weakly. "He'll come back. You know he will. He can't just stay at Vlad's forever even brainwashed as he is."
Sam looked up, tears in her lilac eyes. "Jazz… you didn't see the look on his face. He didn't even know me." She swallowed, looking back down at the picture. "I'm sure most of it is hormones from my pregnancy, but," she choked back a sob, "I want Danny. I want him with me through this. I want him by my side, watching out for me and telling me I'm not fat even though I feel like it. I want him to tell me how much he loves me and how much he's looking forward to our baby. I want my Danny back." She broke down into whimpering sobs, her resolve finally fading.
Jazz wrapped her arms around the goth girl, hugging her tightly. "Oh, Sam," she whispered, "I know you miss him, and I know this has to be hard for you with all the hormones running through your body, but you have to hold out."
"I can't… Sometimes, I just wish I could end it all, but then I feel the baby move." Sam sniffled, wiping away tears only to have them replaced with more. "I don't want to have this baby without him, Jazz." She looked up at her lover's sister with empty eyes. "I want him back by my side."
Daniel threw himself into his training, longing to impress his father after yet another mess-up because of his weird delusions of that Sam girl. He didn't know why she kept popping up, but Vlad was starting to get frustrated with him and even muttered something about rebrainwashing. Had he been brainwashed? Is that why he kept having these weird visions and dreams? No, he told himself firmly. Vlad's my dad. He didn't brainwash me... right? He growled then threw himself into the battle, pink ghost rays firing left and right. Only a few more months of training, and he'd be more powerful that his father, and that was what Vlad wanted. He could worry about those visions later.
"I love you too, Danny. And you make sure you remember that." Where was that voice coming from? He didn't know a Danny. "I love you too, Danny. And you make sure you remember that." There it was again. Why did he keep hearing that? "I love you, Danny..."
He raised his head to gaze into her eyes, making certain this is what she wanted. She nodded, reaching down and unbuttoning her jeans herself. He helped her wriggle out of them, bringing her underwear with them. His hands trailed up and down her body, making her gasp and moan in absolute delight. He made certain to return his ministrations to the places that brought her the most pleasure. With trembling hands, she worked at his jeans before finally managing to get them open with his help. It was his turn to blush as her eyes roved his body, her hands roaming.
"I love you, Sam," he whispered, setting a gentle kiss on her lips as she returned her gaze to his face. "Always remember that."
"I love you too, Danny," she whispered back, eyes glossy with tears. "And you make sure you remember that."
"I will," he promised, kissing her again. "I'll never forget how much you love me."
He woke with a start, his body trembling and covered in a cold sweat. "Sam," he whispered, eyes flashing from green to red once more before returning to his natural blue. He shook his head, pulling his legs to his chest and resting his forehead on his knees. "What is going on?" he whispered.
"A vision?" Vlad leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the young man he had brainwashed to become his son. "What kind of vision?"
Daniel shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "Um, there's this girl… Sam, and we're doing something, me and this girl. I tell her that I love her, and she says she loves me back. She says I need to remember that she loves me, and I say that I'll never forget it."
Vlad's eyes narrowed, resting his elbows on his desk. "Daniel, do you need another treatment?"
His eyes widened, and he shook his head furiously. He'd had a treatment before after the whole fiasco with the girl in the virtual training program. He remembered searing pain all throughout his body then darkness before his father woke him to tell him it was time to start training again. No, he didn't need another treatment. He'd keep his visions to himself now.
Danny sighed, looking out the window from where he sat on the sill. He knew he liked Sam. Well, maybe "like" was too weak a word, but he couldn't get close to her. Not after he'd told her that he was going to give himself up to Vlad. He couldn't fall in love with her because he'd never be able to convince himself to give in to Vlad's brainwashing, which is probably what would happen to him. He looked up as Sam entered the room before turning back to the window. He didn't speak when she called his name. He couldn't. If he ignored her, maybe he'd be able to survive this. Maybe he'd be able to get through this whole thing with Vlad. If he didn't fall in love with her, there was still a chance she'd find someone that wasn't turned evil by their arch enemy.
He had been brainwashed. He knew that now. He sat in his room, contemplating what to do with that information. What could he do? He was almost more powerful than Vlad. Maybe… maybe if he waited just a little longer he'd remember everything, and maybe he'd be stronger than Vlad by then too. If he could beat Vlad, he could escape, and if he loved this Sam girl as much as he guessed he did, it would only fuel his desire to escape. Vlad isn't my dad, he realized. He's just a man that wanted a pawn for his own evil purposes.
